 Preface to Book 1 of From the Foundation of the City, Volume 1. Other in tracing the series of the Roman history from the foundation of the city, I shall employ my time to good purpose, is a question which I cannot positively determine, nor were it possible would I venture to pronounce such determination. For I am aware that the matter is of high antiquity and has been already treated by many others, the latest writers always supposing themselves capable, either of throwing some new light on the subject, or by the superiority of their talents or composition of excelling the more inelegant writers who preceded them. However that may be, I shall at all events derive no small satisfaction from the reflection that my best endeavours have been exerted in transmitting to posterity the achievements of the greatest people in the world, and if amidst such a multitude of writers my name should not emerge from obscurity, I shall console myself by attributing it to the eminent merit of those who stand in my way in the pursuit of fame. It may be further observed that such a subject must require a work of immense extent, as our researches must be carried back through a space of more than seven hundred years, that the state has, from very small beginnings, gradually increased to such a magnitude that it is now distressed by its own bulk, and that there is every reason to apprehend that the generality of readers will receive but little pleasure from the accounts of its first origin, or of the times immediately succeeding, but will be impatient to arrive at that period in which the powers of this overgrown state have been long employed in working their own destruction. On the other hand, this much will be derived from my labour, that so long at least as I shall have my thoughts totally occupied in investigating the transactions of such decent ages, without being embarrassed by any of those unpleasing considerations in respect of later days, which though they might not have power to warp a writer's mind from the truth, would yet be sufficient to create uneasiness, I shall withdraw myself from the sight of the many evils to which our eyes have been so long accustomed, as to the relations which have been handed down of events prior to the founding of the city, or to the circumstances that gave occasion to its being founded, and which bear the semblance rather of poetic fictions than of authentic records of history, these I have no intention either to maintain or refute. Antiquity is always indulged with the privilege of rendering the original cities more venerable by intermixing divine with human agency, and if any nation may claim the privilege of being allowed to consider its original as sacred, and to attribute it to the operations of the gods, surely the Roman people who rank so high in military fame may well expect that, while they choose to represent Mars as their own parent and that of their founder, the other nations of the world may acquiesce in this, with the same deference with which they acknowledge their sovereignty. But what degree of attention or credit may be given to these and such like matters I shall not consider as very material. To the following considerations I wish everyone seriously and earnestly to attend. By what kind of men, and by what sort of conduct, in peace and war, the Empire has been both acquired and extended. Then, as discipline gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts the structure of ancient morals at first, as it were, leaning aside, then sinking farther and farther, then beginning to fall precipitate, until he arrives at the present times, when our vices have attained to such a height of enormity that we can no longer endure either the burden of them or the sharpness of the necessary remedies. This is the great advantage to be derived from the study of history. Indeed, the only one which can make it answer any profitable and salutary purpose. For, being abundantly and furnished with clear and distinct examples of every kind of conduct, we may select for ourselves and for the state to which we belong, such as are worthy of imitation, and carefully noting such as being dishonorable in their principles are equally so in their effects learn to avoid them. Now, either partiality to the subject of my intended work misleads me, or there never was any state, either greater or of pure morals or richer in good examples than this of Rome, nor was there ever any city into which ever is and luxury made their entrance so late, or where poverty and frugality were so highly and so long held in honor, men contracting their desires in proportion to the narrowness of their circumstances. Of late years indeed, opulence has introduced a greediness for gain, and the boundless variety of dissolute pleasures has created, in many, a passion for ruining themselves and all around them. But let us, in the first stage at least of this undertaking, avoid gloomy reflections, which, when perhaps unavoidable, will not, even then, be agreeable. If it were customary with us, as it is with poets, we would, more willingly, begin with good omens and vows and prayers to the gods and goddesses, that they would propitiously grant success to our endeavors in the prosecution of so arduous a task. End of Book 1, Preface. Part 1, Book 1 of From the Foundation of the City, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. From the Foundation of the City, Volume 1, by Titus Livius, translated by George Baker, Book 1, Part 1. It has been handed down to us, as a certain fact, that the Greeks, when they had taken Troy, treated the Troyans with the utmost severity, with the exception, however, of two of them, Aeneas and Antonor, towards whom they exercised none of the rights of conquest. This lenity they owed partly to an old connection of hospitality, and partly to their having been all along inclined to peace and to the restoration of Helen. These chiefs experienced afterwards great varieties of fortune. Antonor, being joined by a multitude of the Aeneasians, who had been driven out of Paphagonia in a civil war, and having lost their king, Pilemenes, at Troy, were at the loss, both for a settlement and a leader, came to the innermost bay of the Adriatic Sea, and expelling the Eugenians, who then inhabited the tract between the Alps and the Sea, settled the Troyans and Aeneasians in the possession of the country. The place where they first landed is called Troy, and from thence the Troyan canton also has its name. The nation in general were called Aeneasians. Aeneas, driven from home by the same calamity, but conducted by the fates to an establishment of more importance, came first to Macedonia. Thence, in search of a settlement, he sailed to Sicily, and from Sicily proceeded with his fleet to the country of the Laurentians. Here also, to the spot where they landed, was given the name of Troy. Here the Troyans disembarked, and as, after wondering about for a great length of time, they had nothing left beside their ships and arms. They began to make prey of whatever they found in the country. On this, King Latinus and the Aborigines, who were then in possession of those lands, assembled hastily from the city and country in order to repel the violence of the strangers. Of what followed, there are two different accounts. Some writers say that Latinus, being overcome in battle, contracted an alliance, and afterwards an affinity with Aeneas. Others, that when the armies were drawn up in order of battle, before the signal was given, Latinus, advancing in the front, invited the leader of the strangers to a conference. Then, inquired who they were, whence they came, what had induced them to leave their home, and with what design they had landed on the Laurentian coast. And that, when he was informed that the leader was Aeneas, the son of Ancaisus by Venus, and his followers, Troyans, that they had made their escape from the flames of their native city and of their houses, and were in search of a settlement in a place where they might build a town, being struck with admiration of that renowned people, and their chief, and of their spirit, prepared alike for war or peace. He gave him his right hand, and by that pledge assured him of his future friendship. A league was then struck between the leaders, and mutual salutations passed between the armies. Latinus entertained Aeneas in his palace, and there, in the presence of his household gods, added a domestic alliance to their public one, giving him his daughter in marriage. This event fully confirmed the hopes of the Troyans, that here at last they were to find an end of their wanderings, that here they would enjoy a fixed and permanent settlement. They built a town which Aeneas called Lavinium, from the name of his wife. In a short time after, his new consort bore him a son, who was named by his parents Ascanius. The Aborigines, in conjunction with the Troyans, soon found themselves engaged in a war. Ternus, king of the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had been a faience before the arrival of Aeneas, enraged at seeing a stranger preferred to him, declared war against both Aeneas and Latinus. A battle that ensued gave neither army reason to rejoice. The Rutulians were defeated, and the victorious Aborigines and Troyans lost their leader, Latinus. Whereupon, Ternus and the Rutulians, diffident of their strength, had recourse to the flourishing state of the Etrurians, and their king, Byzantius, who held his court at Ceri, at that time an opulent city. He had been, from the beginning, not at all pleased at the foundation of the new city, and now began to think that the Troyan power was increasing to a degree inconsistent with the safety of the neighboring states, and therefore, without reluctance, concluded an alliance and joined his forces with those of the Rutulians. Aeneas, with the view of conciliating the affection of the Aborigines, that he might be the better able to oppose such formidable enemies, gave to both the nations under his rule the name of Latines, that all should not only be governed by the same laws, but have one common name. From thenceforth, the Aborigines yielded not to the Troyans in zeal and fidelity towards their King Aeneas. This disposition of the two nations, who coalesced daily with greater cordiality, inspired him with so much confidence that, notwithstanding Etruria was possessed of such great power, that it had filled with the fame of its prowess not only the land, but the sea also, through the whole length of Italy, from the Alps to the Sicilian Strait, and although he might have remained within his fortifications secure from any attack of the enemy, yet he led out his troops to the field. The battle that followed was, with respect to the Latines, their second, with respect to Aeneas, the last of his mortal acts. He, by whatever appellation the laws of gods and men require him to be called, is deposited on the bank of the river Numicus. The people gave him the title of Jupiter Indigus. His son Ascanius was, as yet, too young to assume the government. Nevertheless, his title to the sovereignty remained unimpeached until he arrived at maturity. During this interval, and under the regency of Lavinia, a woman of great capacity, the Latine State and the united subjects of the Prince's father and grandfather continued firm in their allegiance. I am not without some doubts, for who can affirm with certainty, in a matter of such antiquity, whether this was the same Ascanius mentioned above, or one older than him, born of Criusa, wife to Aeneas, before the destruction of Troy, and who accompanied his father in his flight from thence, whom, being also called Ulus, the Julian family claim as the founder of their name. This Ascanius, were so ever, and of whatsoever mother born, certainly the son of Aeneas, finding the number of inhabitants in Lavinium too great, left that city, then, in the flourishing and opulent state considering the circumstances of those times, to his mother, or stepmother, and built a new one on the Elbon Mount, which, from its situation, being stretched along the hill, was called Alba Longa. Between the building of Lavinium and the transplanting the colony to Alba Longa, the interval was only about 30 years, yet so rapidly had these people increased in power, especially after the defeat of the Etrurians, that, not even on the death of Aeneas, nor afterwards, during the regency of a woman, and the first essays of a youthful reign, did either Mesentius and the Etrurians, or any other of the bordering nations, dare to attempt hostilities against them. A peace was agreed upon, in which it was stipulated that the river Albula, now called the Tiber, should be the boundary between the Etrurians and Latins. Ascanius' son, called Sylveus, from his having by some accident been born in the woods, succeeded him in the kingdom. He begat Aeneas Sylveus, who afterwards begat Latinus Sylveus. This prince planted several colonies, who have obtained the name of ancient Latins. The surname of Sylveus was hence-forward given to all those who reigned at Alba. Of Latinus was born Alba, of Alba Etis, of Etis Capis, of Capis Capitas, of Capitas Tiberinus, who, being drowned in endeavoring to cross the river Albula, gave to that river the name so celebrated among his posterity. Agrippa, son of Tiberinus, reigned next, after Agrippa Romulus. Sylveus received the kingdom from his father, and, being struck by lightning, demised it to Aventinas, who, being buried on that hill, which is now a part of the city of Rome, gave it his name. To him succeeded Procus, who had two sons, Numitur and Amulius. To Numitur, as being the first born, he bequeathed the ancient kingdom of the Sylvian family. But force prevailed over both the will of their father, and the respect due to priority of birth. Amulius dethroned his brother, took possession of the kingdom, and, adding, crying to crime, put to death the male offspring of Numitur, making his daughter, Rhea Sylvia, a Vestal, under the specious pretense of doing her honor. But, in fact, to the priver of all hope of issue, the Vestals being obliged to vow perpetual virginity. But the fates, I suppose, demanded the founding of this great city, and the first establishment of an empire which is now in power next to the immortal gods. The Vestal, being deflowered by force, brought forth twins, and declared that the father of her doubtful offspring was Mars, either because she really thought so, or in hopes of extenuating the guilt of her transgression by imputing it to the act of a deity. But neither gods nor men screen her or her children from the king's cruelty. The priestess was loaded with chains and cast into prison, and the children were ordered to be thrown into the stream of the river. It happened providentially that the tiber, overflowing its banks, formed itself into stagnant pools in such a manner as that the regular channel was everywhere inaccessible, and those who carried the infants suppose that they would be drowned in any water, however still. Wherefore, as if thereby fulfilling the king's order, they exposed the boys in the nearest pool, where now stands the Rominal Victory, which, it is said, was formerly called Romular. Those places were, at that time, wild deserts. The story prevails that the retiring flood having left on dry ground the trough, hitherto floating, in which they had been exposed, a thirsty she-wolf from the neighboring mountains directed her course to the cries of the children, and, stooping, presented her dugs to the infants, showing so much gentleness that the keeper of the king's herds found her licking the boys with her tongue, and that this shepherd, whose name was Faustalus, carried them home to his wife, Lurentia, to be nursed. Some there are who think that this Lurentia, from her having been a prostitute, was by the shepherds called Lupa, and to this circumstance they ascribed the origin of this fabulous tale. Thus born, and thus educated, as soon as years supplied them with strength, they led not an inactive life at the stables or among the cattle, but traversed the neighboring forests in hunting. Hence, acquiring vigor both of body and mind, they soon began not only to withstand the wild beasts, but to attack robbers loaded with booty. The spoil thus acquired, they divided with the shepherds, and, in company with these, the number of their young associates continually increased. They carried on both their business and their sports. It is said that even at that early period, the sports of the lupercole, which was still celebrated, were practiced on the Palatine hill, and that this was called Palatium from Palantium, a city of Arcadia, and afterwards the Palatine hill. And that Evender, who was of that tribe of Arcadians, and had been many years before in possession of this part of the country, had instituted there this solemnity brought from Arcadia, in which young men were to run about naked in sport and wantoness in honor of Lycian Pan, whom the Romans afterward called Inus. While they were intent on the performance of these sports, the time of their celebration being generally known, the robbers, enraged at the loss of their booty, attacked them by surprise, having placed themselves in ambush. Romulus, making a vigorous defense, extricated himself, but they took Remus prisoner, delivered him up to King Amulius, and had the assurance to accuse them both of criminal misbehavior. The principal charge made against them was that they had made violent inroads on the lens of Numitor, and with a band of youths which they had collected, plundered the country in a hostile manner. In consequence of this, Remus was given up to Numitor to be punished. From the very beginning Faustulus had entertained hopes that the children whom he educated would prove to be descended of the royal blood, for he knew that the infants of Rhea had been exposed by order of the king, and that the time when he had taken them up corresponded exactly with that event. But he had resolved to avoid any hasty disclosure, unless some favorable conjuncture or necessity should require it. The necessity happened first, wherefore, constrained by his apprehensions, he imparted the affair to Romulus. It happened also that Numitor, while he had Remus in his custody, heard that the brothers were twins, and when he combined with the circumstance their age and their turn of mind, which gave no indication of a servile condition, he was struck with the idea of there being his grandchildren, and all his inquiries leading to the same conclusion he was upon the point of acknowledging Remus. In consequence, a plot against the king was concerted between all the parties. Romulus, not going at the head of a band of youths, for he was unequal to an open attempt, but ordering the shepherds to come at a certain hour by different roads to the palace, forced his way to the king, and was supported by Remus with another party procured from the house of Numitor. Thus they put the king to death. In the beginning of the tumult, Numitor, calling out that the city was assaulted by an enemy, and the palace attacked, had drawn away the elven youth to the citadel, on pretense of securing it by an armed garrison. And in a little time, seeing the young men, after perpetrating the murder coming towards him with expressions of joy, he instantly called the people to an assembly, laid before them the iniquitous behavior of his brother towards himself, the birth of his grandchildren, how they were begotten, how educated, how discovered, then informed them of the death of the usurper, and that he had himself encouraged the design. The youths, at the same time advancing with their followers through the midst of the assembly, saluted their grandfather as king, on which the multitude, testifying their assent by universal acclamations, ratified to him the royal title and authority. When Numitor was thus reinstated in the sovereignty at Alba, Romulus and Remus were seized with a desire of building a city in the place where they had been exposed and educated. There were great numbers of Albans and Latins who could be spared for the purpose, and these were joined by a multitude of shepherds, so that, altogether, they formed such a numerous body as gave grounds to hope that Alba and Lavinium would be but small in comparison with the city which they were about to found. These views were interrupted by an evil hereditary in their family ambition for rule. Hence arose a shameful contest, though they had in the beginning rested their dispute on this amicable footing, that as they were twins, and consequently no title to precedence could be derived from priority of birth, the gods, who were guardians of the place, should choose by auguries, which of the two should give a name to the new city, and enjoy the government of it when built. Romulus chose the Palatine, Remus the Eventine Mount, as their consecrated stands to wave the auguries. We are told that the first omen appeared to Remus, consisting of six vultures, and that, after this had been proclaimed, twice that number showed themselves to Romulus, on which each was saluted king by his own followers, the former claiming the kingdom on the ground of the priority of time, the latter on that of the number of the birds. On their meeting, an altercation ensued, then blows, and their passions being inflamed by the dispute, the affair proceeded at last to extremity, and murder was the consequence. Remus fell by a blow received in the tumult. There is another account more generally received, that Remus, in the region of his brother, leaped over the new wall, and that Romulus, enraged the rat, slew him, uttering at the same time his implication, so perish every one that shall hereafter leap over my wall. By these means, Romulus came into the sole possession of the government, and the city, when built, was called after the name of its founder. The first buildings which he raised were on the Palatine Hill, where he himself had been brought up. To the other deities he performed worship, according to the mode of the Albans, but to Hercules, according to that of the Greeks, as instituted by Evander. It is recorded that Hercules, after having slayed Girian, drove away his cattle, which were surprisingly beautiful, and that, being fatigued with traveling, he lay down near the river Tiber, in a gressi place, to which he had swam over, driving the herd before him, in order to refresh the cattle with rest and the rich pasture. There, having indulged himself in meat and wine, he was overpowered by sleep, whereupon a shepherd, who dwelt in the neighborhood, named Caucus, of great strength and fierceness, being struck with the beauty of the cattle, wished to make prey of some of them. But considering that, if he should drive the herd before him into his cave, their tracks would direct the owner's search, he dragged the cattle backward, by the tails, into the cave, peeking out those that were the most remarkable for their beauty. Hercules, awaking at the dawn of day, took a view of his herd, and missing some of the number, went directly to the next cave, to examine whether the footsteps led thither. But when he observed that they all pointed outward, and yet did not direct to any other quarter, perplexed, and not knowing how to act, he began to drive forward his herd from that unlucky place. Some of the cows, as they were driven off, missing those that were left behind, began, as was natural, to low after them, and the sound being returned from the cave by those that were shut up in it, brought Hercules back. Caucus, endeavoring by force to prevent his approach to the cave, and invoking in vain the assistance of the shepherds, received a blow of his club, which put an end to his life. At that time, Evander, a native of Peloponnesus, who had removed either, governed that part of the country, rather through an influence acquired by his merit than any power of sovereignty vested in him. He was highly revered on account of his having introduced the wonderful knowledge of letters, a matter quite new to these men, who were ignorant of all the arts, and still more so on account of the supposed divinity of his mother, Carmenta, whose prophetic powers had been an object of admiration to those nations, before the arrival of the Sibyl in Italy. Evander, then, being alarmed by the conquerors of the shepherds, hastened to the spot where they were assembled in a tumultuous manner about the stranger whom they accused as undeniably guilty of murder, and when he was informed of the fact, and of the cause of it, observing the person and mean of the hero, filled with more dignity and majesty than belonged to a human being, he inquired who he was, and being told his name, that of his father and his country, he addressed him in these words, Hail Hercules, son of Job! My mother, the infallible interpreter of the gods, foretold to me that you were destined to increase the number of the Celestials, and that an altar would be dedicated to you in this place, which a nation hereafter the most powerful in the world should distinguish by the name of the greatest, and would offer their own sacrifices to your honor. Hercules, giving his right hand, replied that he embraced the omen, and would fulfill the decree of the Fates by building and dedicating an altar in the place. There, then, for the first time, was performed a sacrifice to Hercules, of a chosen heifer taken out of the herd, and the Potitii and the Pinarii, the most distinguished families in the neighborhood at the time, were invited to assist in the ceremonies, and share the entertainment. It happened that the Potitii attended in time, and the entrails were served up to them. The Pinarii, arriving after the entrails were eaten, came in for the rest of the feast. Hence it continued a rule, as long as the Pinarian family existed, that they should not eat of the entrails. The Potitii, instructed by Evander, were directors of that solemnity for many ages, until the solemn office of the family was delegated to public servants, on which the whole race of the Potitii became extinct. These were the only foreign rites that Romulus then adopted, showing thereby, from the beginning, a respect for immortality obtained by Merritt, a dignity to which his own destiny was conducting him. After paying due worship to the gods, he summoned the multitude to an assembly, and knowing that they could never be brought to incorporate as one people by any other means, then by having their conduct directed by certain rules, he gave them a body of laws. And judging that, if he added to the dignity of his own carriage, by assuming the ensigns of sovereignty, it would help to procure respect to those laws, among a rude, uninformed people, he adopted a more majestic style of appearance, both with regard to his other appointments, and particularly in being attended by twelve Lictors. Some think that he was led to fix on this number by that of the birds and the augury which had portended the kingdom to him. I am rather inclined to be of their opinion, who suppose that all the officers attended on magistrates, and among the rest of the Lictors, as well as the number of them, were borrowed from their neighbors, the Eturians, from whom the cural chair and the gown edged with purple were taken, and that the Eturians, used that number because their king, being elected by the suffrages of twelve states, each state gave him one Lictor. Meanwhile, the city increased in buildings, which were carried on, to an extent, proportioned rather to the number of inhabitants they hoped for in future than to what they had at the time. But that its size might not increase beyond its strength, in order to augment his numbers, he had recourse to a practice common among founders of cities, who used to feign that the multitude of mean and obscure people, thus collected, had sprung out of the earth. He opened a sanctuary, in the place where the enclosure now is, on the road down from the capital, called the Pass of the Two Groves. Hither fled from the neighboring states, crowds of all sorts, without distinction, whether free men or slaves, led by a fondness for novelty, and this it was that gave solidity to the growing greatness of the city. Having reason now to be pretty well satisfied with his strength, he next made provision that this strength should be regulated by wisdom, and for that purpose he created 100 senators, either because that number was sufficient, or because there were no more than 100 citizens who could prove their dissent from respectable families. They were certainly styled fathers from their honorable office, and their descendants, patricians. The Roman state had now attained such a degree of power, that it was a match in arms for any of the neighboring nations. But, from the small number of its women, its greatness was not likely to last longer than one age of man, as they had neither hopes of offspring among themselves, nor had yet contracted any intermarriages with their neighbors. Romulus, therefore, by advice of the senate, sent ambassadors round to all the adjoining states, soliciting their alliance and permission for his new subjects to marry among them. He intimated to them that, quote, cities like everything else rise from low beginnings, that, in time, those which are supported by their own merit and the favor of the gods, procure to themselves great power and a great name, and that he had full assurance both that the gods favored the founding of Rome and that the people would not be deficient in merit. Wherefore, as men, they ought to show no reluctance to mix their blood and race with men, unquote. In no one place were his ambassadors favorably heard. Such contempt of them did people entertain, and, at the same time, such apprehensions of danger to themselves and their posterity from so great a power growing up in the midst of them. By the greater part they were dismissed with a question whether they had opened an asylum for women also, for that would be the only way to procure suitable matches for them. This was highly resented by the Roman youth in so much that the business appeared evidently to point towards violence. Romulus, in order to afford them a convenient time and place for a design of that sort, dissembling his displeasure, prepared, with that intent, to celebrate solemn games in honor of the equestrian Neptune, to which he gave the name of Consulia. He then ordered the intended celebration to be proclaimed among the neighboring nations, while his people exerted themselves in making the most magnificent preparations that their knowledge and abilities allowed, in order to engage attention and raise expectation. Great numbers of people assembled, induced in some measure by a desire of seeing the new city, especially those whose countries lay nearest, the Kynaninsians, Christominians, and Atomnations, and especially the whole multitude of the Seibais came with their wives and children. They were hospitably invited to the different houses, and when they viewed the situation and the fortifications in the city crowded with houses, they were astonished at the rapid increase of the Roman power. When the show began, and every person's thoughts and eyes were attentively engaged on it, then, according to the pre-concerted plan, on a signal being given, the Roman youth ran different ways to carry off the young women. Some they bore away as they happened to meet with them without waiting to make a choice, but others of extraordinary beauty, being designed for the principal senators, were conveyed to their houses by plebeians employed for that purpose. It is said that one highly distinguished above the rest for her beauty was carried off by the party of one Talasius, and that in answer to many who eagerly inquired to whom they were hurrying her, they, every now and then, to prevent any interruption in their course, cried out that they were carrying her to Talasius. This circumstance gave rise to the use of that word at weddings. The terror occasioned by this outrage put an end to the sports, and the parents of the young women retired full of grief, invading against such a violation of the laws of hospitality and appealing to the God to whose solemn festival and games they had come, relying on the respect due to religion and on the faith of nations. Nor did the women who were seized entertain better hopes with regard to themselves, or a less degree of indignation. However, Romulus went about in person and told them that this proceeding had been occasioned by the haughtiness of their parents, who refused to allow their neighbors to marry among them. That, notwithstanding this, they should be united to his people in wedlock and the common enjoyment of all property and of their common children, a bond of union then which the human heart feels none more endearing. He begged of them to soften their resentment and to bestow their affections on those men on whom chance had bestowed their persons. It often happened, he said, that to harsh treatment mutual regard had succeeded, and they would find their husbands behave the better on this very account, that every one would exert himself not merely in performing his duty as a husband, but to make up to them for the loss of their parents and of their country. To these persuasions was added the soothing behavior of their husbands themselves, who urged in extenuation of the violence they had been tempted to commit, the excess of passion and the force of love, arguments then which there can be none more powerful to assuage the irritation of the female mind. The women who had been forcibly carried off soon became reconciled to their situation, but their parents, still more than at first, endeavored to rouse their several states to revenge, employing both complaints and tears, and wearing the dress of mourners, nor did they confine their demands of vengeance within the limits of their own states, but made joint applications from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, the embassies being addressed to him as the person of the highest renown in all those parts. The people who were the principal sufferers by outrage were the Kynanensians, the Christominians, and the Atamnations. To them, the proceedings of Titus and the Sabine nation appeared too dilatory, wherefore these three states, uniting in a confederacy, prepared for immediate war, nor did even the Christominians and Atamnations exert activity enough for the impatient rage of the Kynanensians. This state, therefore, alone made an eruption into the Roman territories, but while they carried on their ravages in a disorderly manner, Romulus met them, and, without much difficulty, taught them that rage without strength avails but little. He routed and dispersed their army, pursued it in its flight, slew their king in the battle, and seized his spoils, after which he made himself master of their city at the first assault. From thence he led home his victorious troops, and being not only capable of performing splendid actions, but also fond of displaying those actions to advantage, he marched up in procession to the capital, carrying on a frame properly constructed for the purpose the spoils of the enemy's general, whom he had slain. And there laying them down under an oak, which the shepherds accounted sacred, he, at the same time, while he offered this present, marked out with his eye the bounds of a temple for Jupiter, to whom he gave a new name, saying, Jupiter Feretrius, in acknowledgment of the victory which I have obtained, I, Romulus the king, offer to thee these royal arms, and dedicate a temple to thee on that spot, which I have now measured out in my mind, to be a repository for those grand spoils which, after my example, generals in future times shall offer, on slaying the kings and generals of their enemies. This was the origin of that temple, which was the first consecrated in Rome. Accordingly, it pleased the gods so to order that neither the prediction of the founder of the temple, intimating that future generals should carry spoils thither, should prove erroneous, nor that the honor of making such offerings should be rendered common by being imparted to many. In after times, during so many years, and so many wars, there have been only two instances of the grand spoils being obtained. So rare was the attainment of that high honor. While the Romans were thus employed, the army of the Abtonations, taking advantage of the opportunity which the country being left without troops afforded them, made a hostile incursion into the Roman territories. But a Roman legion hastily let out, surprised them, while they straggled through the country. They were routed, therefore, at the first onset, and their town was taken. While Romulus exalted in this second victory, his consort, Hercilia, teased by the entreaties of the captured women, earnestly petitioned him that he would show favor to their parents and admit them into the number of his citizens, a measure which could not fail of forming a union satisfactory to all parties. This request was easily obtained. He then marched against the Christominians, who were carrying on hostilities. With these, he had still less trouble than with the Atom nations, because they had been dispirited by the defeats of their allies. Colonies were sent to both countries, but greater numbers were found willing to give in their names for Christominium on account of the fertility of the soil. There were frequent migrations also from those places to Rome, chiefly of the parents and relations of the ravished women. The last war on this occasion was begun by the sapines, and it was by far the most formidable, for none of their operations were directed by rage or passion, nor did they disclose their intentions until they began to act. They employed stratagem, too, in aid of prudence. The Roman citadel was commanded by Spurius Tarpeus. His maiden daughter, who had accidentally gone without the fortifications to bring water for the sacred rites, was bribed by Taceus with gold to admit some of his troops into the citadel. As soon as they gained admittance, they put her to death by throwing their armor in a heap upon her, either because they wished that the citadel should rather appear to have been taken by storm, or for the sake of establishing a precedent that faith was not to be kept with a traitor. The story is told in another manner, that, as the sapines generally carried on their left arms bracelets of great weight and war rings set with precious stones, which made a great show, she bargained for what they wore on their left arms. Accordingly, instead of the presence of gold which she expected, they threw their shields upon her. Others say that in pursuance of the agreement to deliver up what was on their left arms, she expressly demanded their shields, and this seeming to be done with a treacherous intent, she was put to death by means of the very reward which she required. The sapines however kept possession of the citadel, but though on the following day the Roman army in order of battle filled the whole plain between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, yet they did not come down to the level ground, until the Romans, stimulated by rage and eagerness to recover the citadel, advanced to an assault. The foremost champions of the two parties who led on the troops were Medeus Curdeus on the side of the sapines and Hostus Hostilius on that of the Romans. The latter in front of the army by his spirit and intrepidity enabled the Romans to support the fight in spite of the disadvantage of the ground, but on his falling the Roman soldiers quickly gave way and were driven back to the old gate of the Palatium. Romulus himself being forced along by the flying crowd raised his hands toward heaven and said, Oh Jupiter, by the direction of thy auspices I here on the Palatine hill laid the first foundation of my city. The sapines are already in possession of our citadel, which they obtained by fraud. From thence they now make their way hither in arms and have passed the middle of the valley, but do thou, O father of gods and men, from hence at least repel the enemy, remove dismay from the minds of the Romans and stop their shameful flight. I vow a temple here to thee, Jupiter Stator, as a testimony to posterity of the city being preserved by thy immediate aid. Having prayed thus, as if he had perceived that his supplications were heard, he called out, Here, Romans, Jupiter, supremely good and great, orders you to halt and renew the fight. The Romans, as if they had heard a voice from heaven, halted, and Romulus himself flew forward to the front. On the side of the sapines, Medius Cirtius had run down first from the citadel, had driven back the Romans in disorder through the whole space at present occupied by the Forum, and was now at no great distance from the gate of the palladium, crying out, We have conquered these traitors to hospitality, these cowards in war. They now feel that it is one thing to ravish virgins and another far different to fight with men. While he was wanting in this manner, Romulus attacked him with a band of the most courageous of the youths. Medius happened at that time to fight on horseback, and on that account was the more easily repulsed. He soon gave way and was pursued by the Romans. The rest of the Roman troops also, animated by the bravery of their king, put the sapines to the route. Medius was plunged into a lake, his horse taking fright at the noise of the pursuers, and this circumstance turned the attention of the sapines to the danger in which they saw a person of so much consequence to them. However, his friends beckoning and calling to him, he acquired fresh courage from the affection of the multitude and accomplished his escape. Both parties now renewed the engagement in the plane between the two hills, but the advantage was on the side of the Romans. At this crisis, the sapine women, whose sufferings had given cause to the war, with their hair disheveled and garments torn, their natural timidity being overcome by the sight of such disastrous scenes, had the resolution to throw themselves in the way of the flying weapons, and rushing across between the armies, separated the incensed combatants and assuaged their fury, beseeching, on the one hand, their parents, on the other hand, their husbands, not to pollute themselves with the impious stain of the blood of father-in-law and son-in-law, nor brand with the infamy of parasite their offspring, the children of one and grandchildren of the other party. If ye wish, said they, to destroy the affinity and connection formed between you by our marriage, turn your rage against us. We are the cause of the war. We are the cause of wounds and death to our husbands and fathers. It is better for us to perish than to live either widowed by the loss of one party or fatherless by that of the other. This transaction powerfully affected both the multitude and the leaders. Silence suddenly ensued in the suspension of the fight. The commanders then came forward in order to concert measures for a pacification, and they not only concluded a peace, but combined the two nations into one, associating the two sovereigns in the government and establishing the seat of empire at Rome. By this accession, the number of citizens was doubled, and, as some compliment to the Sabines, the United People were called Querites from the town of Curace. To perpetuate the remembrance of that battle, the place where his horse, emerging from the deep of the lake, first brought Curdius to a shallow, was called the Cursian Lake. This happy re-establishment of peace, after a war so distressing, rendered the Sabine women still dearer both to their husbands and parents, and above all to Romulus himself, so that when he divided the people into thirty curias, he gave these the names of the women. But as the number of the women was undoubtedly greater than that of the curias, whether those who were to give their names to them were selected on account of their age, or their own dignity, or that of their husbands, or by lot we are not informed. At the same time also, three centuries of knights were enrolled. The Remnenses, so called from Romulus, the Titiances, from Titus Tacius, and the Luceres, the reason of whose name and origin is unknown. Henceforward, the two kings reigned together, not only with equal power, but with concord. Several years after, some relations of King Tacius offered violence to the ambassadors of the Laurentians, for which violation of the law of nations, the latter demanded satisfaction. But Tacius paid more regard to the interest and importunities of his relations, and thereby drew upon himself the punishment due to them. For he was slain afterwards at Livinium, in a tumult raised on his going thither to an anniversary sacrifice. It is said that Romulus showed less resentment of this proceeding than became him, either because there had been no sincere cordiality between them while associated in the government, or because he thought that the other deserved the death which he met. He avoided therefore entering into a war on the occasion, but to make some atonement for the ill treatment of the ambassadors and the murder of the king, the league between the cities of Rome and Livinium was renewed. Thus, beyond their expectations, the Romans enjoyed peace on that side. But a war broke out from another quarter, much nearer home, and almost at their gates. The Financians, looking with jealousy on the great increase of power in so near a neighbor, determined to make war on them before they should arrive at that degree of strength, which it was evident they would in time acquire, and sent a body of young men in arms who laid waste the whole country between Fidani and the city. Then, turning to the left hand, because the Tiber confined them on the right, and continuing their depredations, they threw the country people into the utmost consternation, and the sudden alarm spreading from the country into the city made known what had happened. Romulus instantly led out his forces, for a war so near home admitted no delay, and pitched his camp at the distance of a mile from Fidani. Leaving there a small guard and marching out with all the rest of his troops, he ordered a party to lie in ambush among the bushes that grew there in abundance. Then advancing with the other more numerous body of infantry and all the cavalry, by riding up almost to the gates and offering battle in an irregular and insulting manner, he drew the enemy out of the town as he wished. The cavalry, acting in this manner, answered also another purpose, as it afforded a more spacious pretext for the retreat, which he was to counterfeit. And when the foot too began to retire, while the horse seemed irresolute, whether to fight or fly, the enemy rushing suddenly out of the gates in crowds, eager to pursue and press on the Roman army in its retreat, were drawn to the place of the ambuscade. The Romans, now rising suddenly, attacked their line in flank, and the ensigns of those who had been left to guard the camp, advancing at the same time, added to their fears. Dismayed at so many dangers, the Fidinations fled before Romulus and the horsemen with him could well turn to pursue them. Thus they, who had lately pursued an enemy, who only pretended to fly, now fled themselves in earnest, with much greater haste back to the city. But they could not get clear of the enemy, the Romans pressing close on their rear, rushed into the city along with them before the gates could be shut. End of Book 1, Part 2. Part 3, Book 1 of From the Founding of the City, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Harrington. From the Foundation of the City, Volume 1 by Titus Livius, translated by George Baker, Book 1, Part 3. The Contagion of the Fidination War infected the Veintians, induced by the relationship subsisting between them and the Fidinations, for they also were Returians, and urged on beside by their dangerous vicinity of situation. In case the Roman arms were to be turned against all their neighbors, made an incursion into the Roman territories in the manner of a predatory rather than of a regular war. And thus, without encamping or waiting the approach of the enemy's army, they returned to Ve'i, carrying home the plunder collected in the country. On the other side, the Roman commander, not finding the enemy in the country, and being prepared for and determined on a decisive action crossed over the Tiber. The Veintians, hearing that he was forming a camp, and that he intended to advance to their city, marched out to meet him, for they chose rather to engage in the open field than to remain shut up and fight from the walls and houses. There, unassisted by any stratagem, the Roman king, through the mere force of his veteran troops, obtained the victory, and pursued the routed enemy to their walls. The city was so strong, and so well secured, both by art and by nature, that he did not choose to attempt it, but led home his troops and, in his way, ravaged the enemy's country for the sake of revenge rather than of booty. These devastations, having distressed the Veintians no less than the loss of the battle, they sent deputies to Rome to sue for peace. A part of their lands was taken from them, and a truce granted for a hundred years. These were the principal transactions in peace and war during the reign of Romulus, and none of them was unsuitable to the belief of his divine origin, or to the rank of a divinity which, after his death, he was supposed to have obtained. This may be said of the spirit which he showed in recovering the kingdom for his grandfather, as well as of his wise conduct in founding the city, and establishing its power by the arts both of war and peace. For, by the strength which it acquired under his management, it became so respectable that, during forty years after, it enjoyed profound peace and security. He stood, however, much higher in the favor of the people than he did in that of the Senate, and was yet more beloved by his army. He established a bodyguard of three hundred men, whom he called Kellerace, and these he kept constantly about his person in time of peace as well as war. Such were his achievements in his mortal state, one day while holding an assembly in the plain on the borders of the Lake of Capra, for the purpose of reviewing his army, a sudden storm arose accompanied with violent thunder and lightning. The king was enveloped in a thick cloud which hid him from the eyes of the assembly, and was never more seen upon earth. The Roman youth were at length eased of their apprehensions by the return of calm and serene weather after such a turbulent day, but when they saw the royal seat empty, though they readily believed the senators who had stood nearest to him that he had been carried up on high by the storm, yet they were struck with such dread at being thus left in a manner fatherless, that for some time they remained in mournful silence. At last, some few setting the example, the whole multitude saluted Romulus as, a deity, the son of a deity, the king and parent of the city of Rome, and implored his favor with prayers that he would be pleased always, propitiously, to watch over the safety of his own offspring. Some, I believe, even at that time, harbored silent suspicions that the king had been torn in pieces by the hands of the senators. Such a report was spread abroad, but it was little credited, both on account of the high admiration entertained of the man, and because the general consternation caused the other account to be more universally received. It is farther mentioned that a contrivance of one particular man procured additional credit to this representation of the matter, for Proculus Julius, a man whose testimony, as we are told, deserved respect in any case, even of the greatest importance, while the public were full of grief for the king, and of displeasure against the senators, came out into an assembly of the people and said, Romans, yesterday at the dawn of day, Romulus, the parent of this our city, descending suddenly from heaven, appeared before me, and when, seized with horror, I stood in a worshiping posture and addressed him with prayers that I might be allowed to behold him without being guilty of impiety, go, said he, tell the Romans, that it is the will of the gods that my Rome should be the metropolis of the world. Let them therefore cultivate the arts of war, and be assured, and hand this assurance down to posterity that no human power is able to withstand the Roman arms. After these words, he went up and vanished from my sight. It was wonderful how readily the story was credited on this man's word, and how much the grief of the people and of the army was assuaged by their being satisfied of his immortality. Meanwhile, the minds of the senators were agitated by ambition and contention for the vacant throne. Factions had not yet taken their rise from the interests of individuals for, among the new people, no one yet possessed any eminent superiority over the rest. The contest lay between the different bodies of which the state was composed. Those of Sabine descent were anxious that a king should be chosen from among them, apprehensive lest they might lose their claim by disuse, there having been no king of their race since the death of Taceus, although by the terms of the union they were entitled to equal privileges. On the other hand, the original Romans spurned the thought of a foreigner being placed on the throne. Notwithstanding this diversity in their views, yet all concurred in wishing for a king, for they had not yet tasted the sweets of liberty. The senate now began to fear, lest as the sentiments of many of the neighboring states were very unfriendly towards them, some foreign power might attack them, while the state was destitute of a government, and the army destitute of a commander. Everyone therefore was desirous that there should be some head, but no one party could be induced to give way to another. In this difficulty, the senators shared the government among themselves, forming, out of their number, which consisted of a hundred, ten decades, with one president in each, who were to have the direction of public affairs. Each ten governed jointly, the president alone had the lictors and other badges of sovereignty. The time of each holding the government was limited to five days, and the administration went to them all in rotation. In this manner, a year passed without a king, and that interval from this circumstance was called an interregnum, which term is still applied to similar interruptions of the regular government. By this time, the people began to murmur, alleging that slavery was multiplied on them, that they had a hundred masters set over them instead of one, and it became evident that they would no longer be satisfied without a king, nor without one chosen by themselves. The senators, perceiving that such schemes were an agitation, judged it prudent to make a voluntary offer of what they could not much longer retain. Yet, while they gratified the people in surrendering to them the sovereign power, they took care not to give up a larger share of privilege than they kept in their own hands, for they passed a decree that, when the people should elect a king, that election should not be valid unless the Senate approved their choice. And to this day, the same right is claimed with respect to enacting of laws and the appointing of magistrates, though the efficacy of it has been quite taken away. At present, before the people begin to vote, the Senate previously declared their approbation of the proceedings of the Assembly, and that even before they are yet resolved upon. The Interex then, having called an Assembly, said, Romans, be the event prosperous, fortunate, and happy. Elect a king. The fathers have thought proper to decree that it should be so. If ye choose a person worthy to be esteemed, a fit successor to Romulus, the fathers will join their approbation. This proceeding was so pleasing to the people that, lest they might appear to be outdone in generosity, they voted and ordered nothing more than that the Senate should determine by their decree who should be king of Rome. There was at that time a person named Numapompilius, who was universally celebrated for justice and piety. He lived at Curace in the country of the Sabines, and was as eminently skilled as anyone in that age could be, in all laws, human and divine. He was supposed to have been instructed by Pythagoras of Samos, for which supposition there is no other foundation than it's not being known from what other quarter he derived his knowledge. Certain it is, that more than a hundred years after this period in the reign of Servius Tullius, Pythagoras assembled the youth of the remote parts of Italy about Metapontum, Heracla, and Croton, and had them instructed under his own direction. From places so remote, even if he had lived in the time of Numa, how could such a character of him have reached the Sabines as should have inspired them with the desire of receiving his instructions? In what common language could they have communicated, or with what safety could a single man have made his way thither, through so many nations differing in their language and manners? I therefore rather believe that his mind was, by nature, furnished with virtuous dispositions, and that the instructions which he received were not so much in foreign learning as in the coarse and severe discipline of the Sabines, than whom no race of men were less corrupted by refinements. On hearing the name of Numa Pompilius, although the Roman fathers saw that the balance of power would incline to the Sabines, if a king were chosen from among them, yet no one presuming to prefer himself or any other of his own party, or, in short, any one of the fathers or citizens to him, they all to a man concurred in voting that the kingdom should be conferred on Numa Pompilius. When he arrived, in consequence of their invitation, he ordered that, as Romulus, on the founding of the city, had obtained the sovereign power by an augury, so the gods should be consulted in like manner concerning himself. Accordingly, being conducted into the citadel by an augur, to which profession was annexed forever after by public authority, the honor of performing that solemn office, he sat down on a stone with his face turned towards the south. The augur took his seat at his left hand with his head covered, holding in his right hand a crooked wand free from knots, which they called Lituus. Then, taking a view towards the city and the adjacent country, after offering prayers to the gods, he marked out the regions of the sky from east to west. The parts towards the south he called the right, those towards the north the left, and in front of him he set in his mind a boundary at the greatest distance that his eye could reach. Then, shifting the Lituus into his left hand and laying his right on Numa's head, he prayed in this manner, Father Jupiter, if it is thy will that this Numa Pompilius, whose head I hold, should be king of Rome, display to us, we beseech thee, clear tokens of the same, within those limits which I have marked out. He then named the particular auspices which he wished should be sent, and, these having appeared, Numa was declared king, and came down from the consecrated stand. Being thus put in possession of the kingdom, and considering that the city was but of short standing, and had been founded by means of violence and arms, he formed a design of establishing it anew upon principles of justice, laws, and morals, and knowing that the minds of the people, rendered ferocious by military life, would never accommodate themselves to the practice of these during the continuance of war, he resolved by a disuse of arms to mollify the fierceness of their temper. With this view, he built a temple to Janus near the foot of the hill Argaletum, which was to notify a state either of war or of peace. When open, it denoted that the state was engaged in war, when shut, that there was peace with all the surrounding nations. Since the reign of Numa, it has been shut but twice, once in the consulate of Titus Manlius upon the conclusion of the First Punic War. The happiness of seeing it once more shut, the gods granted to our own times, when, after the battle of Actium, the Emperor Caesar Augustus established universal peace on land and sea. This temple he then shut, and having by treaties and alliances secured the friendship of all his neighbors, and thereby removed all apprehension of danger from abroad, he made it his first aim, lest the dispositions of the people, which had hitherto been restrained by fear of their enemies, and by military discipline should, in time of tranquility, grow licentious, to inspire them with fear of the gods. A principle of the greatest efficacy with the multitude in that rude and ignorant age. And as this did not seem likely to make much impression on their minds without the aid of some pretended miracle, he made them believe that he had nightly meetings with the goddess Egeria, and that, by her direction, he instituted the sacred rites, most acceptable to the gods, and appointed proper priests for each of the deities. His first undertaking was to divide the year into twelve months, according to the course of the moon. And because the moon does not make up the number of thirty days in each month, and consequently there are some days wanted to fill up the complete year, formed by the revolution of the sun, he managed in such a manner, by inserting intercalary months, that every twenty-fourth year, the space of all the intermediate years being completed, the days coincided with the same position of the sun from whence they had set out. He also appointed days of business, and days of cessation therefrom, for seeing how expedient it would be in future, that there should be times wherein no business could be brought before the people. He next turned his thoughts to the appointment of priests, though he performed in person the greatest part of the sacred rites, especially those which now belong to the office of the Flamen of Jupiter, judging that in such a war-like state, the greater number of kings would resemble Romulus rather than Numa, and would go abroad themselves to war. Therefore, lest the sacred rites, the performance of which pertained to the office of the kings, should be neglected, he created a Flamen of Jov, who was to attend constantly on the duties of that priesthood, and decorated him with a splendid dress and a royal curil chair. He created likewise two other Flamens, one of Mars, the other of Quirinus. He also selected virgins for the service of Vesta, an order of priesthood derived from Alba, and therefore related in some sort to the family of the founder of the city. For these he fixed a stipend to be paid out of the public treasury that they might, without interruption, attend to the business of the temple, and by enjoining virginity and other religious observances, gave them a sanctity of character that attracted veneration. He also elected 12 priests, called Sallii for Mars Gradovos, and gave them, as an ornament of distinction, a flowered tunic and, over the tunic, a brazen covering for the breast. He ordered these to carry the celestial armor, called Anchilia, and to go in procession through the city singing hymns with leaping and solemn dancing. He then chose, out of the senators, a pontiff named Numa Markius, son of Marcus, and gave him a written and sealed copy of the institutions respecting all the sacred rites, together with directions as to what victims and on what days and in what temples each should be performed, and out of what funds the expenses of them should be defrayed. He also subjected all other religious performances, whether public or private, to the determination of the pontiff. In order that there should be an authorized person to whom the people might, on every occasion, resort for instruction, last, through their neglect of the rites of their own country, or the introduction of foreign ones, irregularities might take place in the worship of the gods. The same pontiff was also to determine all matters relative, not only to the invocation of the celestial gods, but to funeral solemnities and the worship of the infernal deities, and when and how such prodigies as appeared, either by lightning or any other phenomenon, should be attended to and expiated. For the purpose of obtaining information of the sentiments of the deities respecting these matters, he dedicated an altar, on the aventine, to Jupiter Elychus, and consulted the god by auguries concerning the prodigies that were to be expiated. The attention of the whole community being diverted from violence and arms to the considering and adjusting of these matters necessarily prevented idleness, whilst reverence towards gods with the thought of the deity of heaven interfering in the concerns of mankind filled their breast with such a degree of piety that good faith and regard to the obligation of oaths operated as powerfully on their minds as the dread of the laws and of punishment. And while the people formed their manners after the example of the king as the most perfect model, the neighboring powers who had formally looked upon Rome not as a city but as a camp pitched in the midst of them, for the purpose of disturbing the general peace, were brought to entertain such respect for it as to deem any one guilty of impiety who should give trouble to a state entirely occupied in the worship of the gods. There was a grove in the center of which, from out of a dark cave, flowed a rivulet, fed by a perpetual spring. Vither it was numus custom frequently to repair unattended, to meet as he pretended the goddess Egeria. He therefore dedicated it to the muses, they having been he alleged of her councils whom he called his spouse. To faith under the designation of single faith he instituted an anniversary festival in the celebration of which he ordered the flamens to be carried in a covered chariot drawn by two horses. And while employed in the worship of her to have their hands covered close down to the fingers to signify that faith was to be carefully preserved and that even its seat in the right hand was sacred. He appointed many other sacrifices and consecrated the places where they were to be performed which the priest called Argences. But the greatest of all his works was the establishment of a permanent piece which he maintained through the whole course of his reign with no less care than he employed in securing his own authority. Thus two kings in succession by different methods one by warlike the other by peaceful institutions contributed to the aggrandizement of the state. Romulus reigned 37 years, Numa 43. The nation by this time became possessed not only of great strength but had also attained to a competent knowledge of the arts both of war and peace. End of book one part three. Part four book one of from the founding of the city volume one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Harrington. From the foundation of the city volume one by Titus Livius translated by George Baker. Book one part four. On the death of Numa an interregnum again took place. After some time the people elected to the throne Tullus Hostilius grandson to that Hostilius who distinguished himself in the battle with the Sabines at the foot of the Citadel and the Senate gave their approbation. He was not only of a temper very different from that of the late King but more warlike in his disposition than even Romulus himself. His youth and vigor and at the same time the renown of his grandfather stimulated his native courage. Thinking therefore that the strength of the state was growing languid through inactivity he sought on all sides for an opportunity of stirring up a war. It happened that some Roman and Alban peasants committed mutual depredations on each other's lands. At this time Gaius Cluilius held the government of Alba. Ambassadors were sent from both sides at nearly the same time to demand restitution. Tullus gave orders to his that they should attend to nothing else until they executed their commission. He well knew that the Alban would give a refusal and then war might be proclaimed without incurring the charge of impiety. The Alban's proceeded with less dispatch being courteously and liberally entertained by Tullus in his palace they cheerfully enjoyed the pleasures of the king's table. Meanwhile the Romans had made the first demand of restitution and on the Alban's refusal had declared war to commence on the 30th day after and returned to Tullus with an account of their proceedings. He then gave the ambassadors an opportunity of proposing the business of their embassy. They entirely ignorant of what had passed spent some time at first in making apologies that it was very disagreeable to them to say anything that would not be pleasing to Tullus but that they were compelled by their instructions. They came to demand restitution and if that were not granted had orders to declare war. To this Tullus answered tell your king that the king of Rome appeals to the gods to judge which of the two states first dismissed with the refusal the ambassadors of the other demanding restitution that upon that state they may inflict all the calamities of this war. This answer the Alban's carried home in both parties made the most vigorous preparations for a war which might almost be called a civil war as it was to be waged in some manner between parents and their children both parties deriving their descent from Troy for Lavinium owed its origin to Troy from Lavinium sprung Alba and from the race of the Alban kings the Romans were descended. The issue of the war however was such as rendered the dispute less grievous than might have been apprehended for without a general engagement and without any farther damage than the demolition of the houses of one of the cities the two states were incorporated into one. The Alban's first with very numerous forces made an eruption into the Roman territories and at the distance of no more than five miles from the city fortified their camp with a trench which from the name of their leader was afterwards called the Clouillian trench and retained the name for several ages until the occasion being in time forgotten the name too fell into disuse. In this camp Clouillius the Alban king died on which the Alban's created Metius Fufetius their dictator. Tullus now impatient for action especially after the death of the king assured his men that the supreme power of the gods which had already begun with the head would inflict upon the whole body of the Alban's the penalty incurred by their having occasioned this impious war and marching past the enemy's camp in the night he advanced with his army ready for action into the Alban territories. This procedure drew out Metius from the camp where he lay he led his troops by the surest road towards the enemy sending forward an ambassador to tell Tullus that it was highly expedient that they should confer together before they came to an engagement that if he would give him a meeting he was confident that what he had to propose to his consideration would appear to concern the interest of Rome no less than that of Alba. Tullus not thinking it proper to decline the proposal though he saw no probability of any good consequence arising from it led out his troops into the field. The Alban's likewise marched out to meet him when both parties were drawn up in order of battle the leaders attended by a few of the principal officers advanced into the middle space where the Alban began thus. I understood from our King Cluilius that on our part injury sustained and a refusal of satisfaction when demanded were the causes of the present war and I doubt not that you Tullus allege on your part the same grounds of quarrel but if instead of plausible professions I may be allowed to declare the truth it is a thirst for dominion that stimulates two nations connected by their situation and by consanguinity to take up arms against each other nor do I examine whether the measures pursued are justifiable or not the determination of that point was the business of him who commenced the war for my part it was for the purpose of carrying it on that the Alban's constituted me their leader of this however Tullus I wish to warn you what a formidable power the Aturians possess both in our neighborhood and more especially in yours you as being nearer to them know better than we on land they are very powerful on the sea exceedingly so now consider that when you shall give the signal for battle they will enjoy the sight of these two armies engaged as they would a show and will not fail to attack both the victor and the vanquished together when they see them fatigued and their strength exhausted wherefore since we are not content with the certain enjoyment of liberty but are going to hazard an uncertain cast for dominion or slavery let us in the name of the gods pursue some method whereby without great loss without much blood of either nation it may be decided which shall have dominion over the other this proposal was not unpleasing to Tullus though from his natural disposition as well as from confidence of success he was rather inclined to violent measures both of them then turning their thoughts to devise some plan they adopted one for which accident had already laid the foundation it happened that in each of the armies there were three twin brothers between whom there was no disparity in point of age or of strength that their names were Horatius and Curiatius we have sufficient certainty for no occurrence of antiquity has ever been more universally noticed yet notwithstanding that the fact is so well ascertained there still remains a doubt respecting the names to which nation the Horatii belonged and to which the Curiatii authors are divided on the point finding however that the greater number concur in calling the Horatii Romans I am inclined to follow them to these three brothers on each side the kings proposed they should support by their arms the honor of their respective countries informing them that the sovereignty was to be enjoyed by that nation whose champions should prove victorious in the combat no reluctance was shown on their parts and time and place were appointed previous to the fight a league was made between the Romans and the Albans on these conditions that whichever of the two nations should by its champions obtain victory in the combat that nation should without further dispute possess sovereign dominion over the other treaties are variously formed but the mode of ratification is the same in all the following is the manner in which as we are told they proceeded on that occasion and we have no record of any more ancient treaty the herald addressed the king in these words thus thou oh king order me to strike a league with the pater patratus of the albination having received the king's order he said oh king I demand vervain from thee the king answered take it pure the herald brought clean stocks of that herb from the citadel he afterwards asked the king in these words thus thou oh king constitute me the royal delegate of the royal people the querites including in my privileges my attendance and implements the king replied be it without detriment to me and to the roman people the querites I do constitute thee the herald was marcus valerius and he made spurious fuzius pater patratus by touching his head and hair with the vervain the pater patratus is appointed odd use your rondom patrandom that is to ratify the league and this he does in a great many words which being expressed in a long set form I may be excused from repeating then after reciting the conditions he said here thou oh jupiter here thou pater patratus of the albination here ye people of alba as those conditions from first to last have been recited openly from those tablets or that wax without fraud or deceit in such sense as they are most clearly understood here this day from those conditions the roman people will not first depart if they shall at any time first depart from them under authority of the state through any fraud or deceit do thou oh jupiter on that day strike the roman people in like manner as I shall hear this day strike this swine and strike them thou with greater severity in proportion as thy power and ability are greater so saying he struck down the swine with a flint stone the albans likewise by their dictator and their priests repeated their form of ratification and their oath the league being concluded the three brothers on each side pursuant to the agreement took arms the friends of each putting them in mind that the gods of their country their country itself the whole of their countrymen whether at home or in the army rested on their prowess the decision of their fate naturally bold and courageous and highly animated besides by such exhortations they advanced into the midst between the two armies the two armies sat down before their respective camps free from all apprehensions of immediate danger to themselves but not from deep anxiety no less than sovereign power being at stake and depending on the bravery and success of so small a number with all the eagerness therefore of anxious suspense they fixed their attention on an exhibition which is far indeed from being a matter of mere amusement the signal being given the three youths who had been drawn up on each side as in battle array their breasts animated with the magnanimous spirits of whole armies rushed forward to the fight intent on mutual slaughter utterly thoughtless of their own personal peril and reflecting that on the issue of the contest depended the future fate and fortune of their respective countries on the first onset as soon as the clash of their arms and the glittering of their swords were perceived the spectators shuttered with excess of horror and their hopes being as yet equally balanced their voice was suppressed and even their breath was suspended afterwards in the progress of the combat during which not only the activity of the young men's limbs and the rapid motions of their arms offensive and defensive were exhibited to view the three albans were wounded and two of the romans fell lifeless to the ground on their fall the alban army set up a shout of joy while the roman legions were almost reduced to a state of despair by the situation of their champion who was now surrounded by the three kuriate it happened that he was unheard so that though singly he was by no means a match for them collectively yet was he confident of success against each taken singly in order therefore to avoid their joint attack he took himself to flight judging from their wounds that they would pursue him with different degrees of speed he had now fled some way from the place where they had fought when looking back he perceived that there were large intervals between the pursuers and that one was at no great distance from him he therefore turned about with great fury and while the alban army called out to the kuriate to succor their brother Horatius having in the meantime slain his antagonist proceeded victorious to attack the second the romans then cheered their champion with shouts of applause such as naturally burst forth on occasions of unexpected success on his part he delayed not to put an end to the combat four before the third could come up to the relief of his brother he had dispatched them and now they were brought to an equality in point of number only one on each side surviving but were far from equality either in hopes or in strength the one unhurt and flushed with two victories advanced with confidence to the third contest the other enfeebled by a wound fatigued with running and dispirited besides by the fate of his brethren already slain met the victorious enemy what followed could not be called a fight the roman exulting cried out two of you have i offered to the shades of my brothers the third i will offer to the cause in which we are engaged that the roman may rule over the alban and whilst the other could scarcely support the weight of his armor he plunged his sword downward into his throat then as he lay prostrate he despoiled him of his arms the romans received Horatius with triumphant congratulations and a degree of joy proportion to the greatness of the danger that had threatened their cause both parties then applied themselves to the burying of their dead with very different dispositions of mind the one being elated with the acquisition of empire the other depressed under a foreign jurisdiction the sepulchre still remained in the several spots where the combatants fell those of the two romans in one place nearer to alba those of the three albans on the side next to rome but in different places as they fought before the army separated metheus in conformity to the terms of the treaty desired to know from tolus what commands he would give and was ordered to keep the young men in readiness under arms as he intended to employ them in case of a war breaking out with the vey enchants the two parties then retired to their respective homes Horatius advanced at the head of the romans bearing in triumph the spoils of the three brothers near the gate capena he was met by his sister a maiden who had been betrothed to one of the kuryatii observing on her brother's shoulder the military robe of her lover made by her own hands she tore her hair and with loud and mournful outcries called on the name of her deceased spouse his sister's lamentations in the midst of his own triumph and of so great public joy irritated the fierce youth to such a degree that drawing his sword he plunged it into her breast at the same time upgrading her in these words be gone to thy spouse with thy unseasonable love since thou couldst forget what is due to the memory of thy deceased brothers to him who still survives and to thy native country so perish every daughter of rome that shall mourn for its enemy both the senate and people were shocked at the hara deed but still in their opinion his recent merit outweighed its guilt he was however instantly carried before the king for judgment the king unwilling to take on himself a decision of such a melancholy nature and evidently disagreeable to the multitude or to inflict the consequent punishment summoned an assembly of the people and then said i appoint two commissioners to pass judgment on harassus for murder according to the law the law was of dreadful import let two commissioners pass judgment for murder if the accused appeal from the commissioners let the appeal be tried if their sentence be confirmed cover his head hang him by a rope on the gallows let him be scourged either within the pomerium or without the pomerium the two commissioners appointed were of opinion that according to that law they were not authorized to acquit him however small his offense might be and after they had found him guilty one of them pronounced judgment in these words publius harassus i sentenced thee to punishment as a murderer go lictor bind his hands the lictor had come up to him and was fixing the cord when harassus by the advice of tolus who wished to give the mildest interpretation to the law said i appeal so the trial on the appeal came before the commons during this trial the people were very deeply affected especially by the behavior of publius harassus the father who declared that in his judgment his daughter was deservedly put to death had it not been so he would by his own authority as a father have inflicted punishment on his son he then besought them that they would not leave him childless whom they had beheld but a few hours ago surrounded by a progeny of uncommon merit uttering these words the old man embraced the youth and pointing to the spoils of the kuri ate which were hung up in the place where now stands the hurration column all my fellow citizens he exclaimed can you bear to behold him laden with chains and condemned to ignominy stripes and torture whom but just now you saw covered with the ornaments of victory marching in triumph a sight so horrid that scarcely could the eyes of the albans themselves endure it go lictor bind the arms which but now wielded those weapons which acquired dominion to the roman people cover the head of that man to whom your city owes its liberty hang him upon the gallows scourge him within the pomerium but do it between those pillars to which are suspended the trophies of his victory scourge him without the pomerium but do it between the tombs of the kuri ate for to what place can he lead this youth where the monuments of his glory would not redeem him from the ignominy of such a punishment the people could not withstand either the tears of the father or the intrepid spirit of the youth himself which no kind of danger could appall and rather out of admiration of his bravery than regard to the justice of his cause they passed a sentence of acquittal wherefore that some expiation might be made for the act of manifest murder the father was ordered to make atonement for his son at the public expense after performing expiatory sacrifices which continued afterwards to be celebrated by the haraishan family he laid a beam across the street and covering the young man's head made him pass as it were under the yoke the beam remains to this day being constantly kept in repair at the expense of the public and is called the sister's beam a tomb of squared stone was raised for haraisha on the spot where she fell the peace with alba was not of long continuance the dissatisfaction of the multitude on account of the power and fortune of the state having been hazarded on three champions perverted the unsteady mind of the dictator and as his designs though honorable had not been crowned with success he endeavored by others of a different kind to recover the esteem of his countrymen with this view therefore as formerly in time of war he had sought peace so now when peace was established he as ardently wished for war but perceiving that his own state possessed more courage than strength he persuaded other nations to make war openly by order of their governments reserving to his own people the part of affecting their purposes by treachery under the mask of allies the fedenations a roman colony being assured of the concurrence of the veyentians and receiving from the albans a positive engagement to desert to their side were prevailed on to take arms and declare war fedenai having thus openly revolted talus after summoning metheus and his army from alba marched against the enemy and passing the anio pitched his camp at the conflux of the rivers between that place and fedenai the veyentians had crossed the tiber and in the line of battle they composed the right wing near the river the fedenations being posted on the left towards the mountains talus drew up his own men facing the veyentians and posted the albans opposite to the troops of the fedenations the albin had not more resolution and fidelity so that not daring either to keep his ground or openly to desert he filed off slowly towards the mountains when he thought he had proceeded to a sufficient distance he ordered the whole line to halt and being still irresolute in order to waste time he employed himself in forming the ranks his scheme was to join his forces to whichever the party's fortune should favor with victory at first the romans who stood nearest were astonished at finding their flank left uncovered by the departure of their allies and in a short time a horseman at full speed brought an account to the king that the albans were retreating talus in this perilous juncture vowed to institute 12 new salient priests and also to build temples to paleness and terror then rebuking the horseman with a loud voice that the enemy might hear he ordered him to return to the fight telling him that there was no occasion for any uneasiness that it was by his order the albin army was wheeling round in order to fall upon the unprotected rear of the fedenations he commanded him also to order the cavalry to raise their spears aloft and this being performed intercepted from a great part of the infantry the view of the albin army retreating while those who did see them believing what the king had said fought with the greater spirit the fright was now transferred to the enemy for they had heard what the king had spoken aloud and many of the fedenations understood the latin tongue as having been intermixed with romans in the colony wherefore treading less the albans might run down suddenly from the hills and cut off their retreat to the town they betook themselves to flight talus pressed them close and after routing this wing composed of the fedenations turned back with double fury against the vey ancients now disinheartened by the dismay of the other wing neither could they withstand his attack and the river intercepting them behind prevented a precipitated flight as soon as they reached this in their retreat some shamefully throwing away their arms plunged desperately into the water and the rest hesitating on the bank irresolute whether to fight or fly were overpowered and cut off never before had the romans been engaged in so desperate an action end of book one part four